The Vatican Information Service is a news service, founded in the Holy See Press Office, that provides information about the Magisterium and the pastoral activities of the Holy Father and the Roman Curia...[+]

Last 5 news

Monday, March 17, 2014

Vatican City, 17 March 2014 (VIS) –
This morning Pope Francis received in audience the prelates of the
Episcopal Conference of East Timor on their “ad limina Apostolorum”
visit, and delivered to them the text of the address he had prepared.
In the text, the Pope considers some of the concerns the prelates had
referred to him: the contribution of the bishops as the critical
conscience of the nation; the Church in mission, motivated by mercy;
and conveying the good news of salvation in local languages.

“The Church asks of society just one
thing: the freedom to proclaim the Gospel in full, also when it goes
against current values. … Dear brothers, do not be afraid to make
this contribution to the Church for the good of all society. But if
there is no mercy nowadays, there is little chance of entering into
the world of the 'wounded' who are in need of understanding,
forgiveness and love. This is why I never tire of calling all the
Church to a 'revolution of tenderness'”.

The Holy Father encourages them,
“without diminishing the value of the evangelical ideal, to
control, with mercy and patience, the potential for growth in the
steps taken day by day … and to meet this challenge through the
solid formation of priests, religious and lay faithful”. The Pope
adds that “this does not require a specialised form of
evangelisation”, and that it is necessary to make each Christian an
agent of evangelisation since “once a person truly experiences
God's saving love, it does not take long for that person to rise and
proclaim the Gospel, and they do not require great lessons or
instruction. Every Christian is a missionary to the extent that he
encounters God's love in Jesus Christ. … In all baptised persons,
it is the Spirit that leads them to evangelise”. In addition, Pope
Francis emphasises that “challenge” does not imply a threat.

The Pontiff refers to the triple
position the bishop must assume in relation to the faithful: he must
be at the head of his flock, in order to show the way; in the centre,
to maintain unity and neutralise any stampedes; and behind, to ensure
that no-one is left behind or strays. “In any case, be men who are
able to support, with love and patience, the steps of God alongside
his people, and bring to bear all that may keep them united, taking
care of possible dangers but above all enabling hope to grow: may you
have sun and light in your hearts!”.

Vatican City, 16 March 2014 (VIS) –
The Holy See Press Office today issued an informative note from the
director Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J. regarding the private audience of
the Holy Father with the president of the Argentine Republic the full
text of which is published below:

In the late morning, the Holy Father
Francis received in audience the Domus Sanctae Marthae the president
of the Argentine Republic, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner,
accompanied by a large delegation.

The visit had the aim of presenting to
the Holy Father the greetings, wishes and affection of the Argentine
people to commemorate the anniversary of the first year of his
pontificate.

The Pope awaited and received the
president and the delegation at the door of the Domus Sanctae Marthae
around 1.10 p.m. The meeting took place in the Hall on the ground
floor, first with the entire delegation, then with the president
alone. Then, at around 1.30 p.m., the Pope and the president lunched
privately.

Vatican City, 17 March 2014 (VIS) –
This morning a press conference was held in the Holy See Press Office
to present the “Global Freedom Network”, an agreement between the
representatives of the great world religions to eradicate modern
forms of slavery and human trafficking, in collaboration with the
Walk Free Foundation. The speakers at the conference were: Bishop
Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of
Sciences and Social Sciences, on behalf of the Holy Father; Mahmoud
Azab, on behalf of the Grand Imam of Al Azhar, Egypt; Rev. Sir John
Moxon, on behalf of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend
Justin Welby, and Andrew Forrest, founder of the Walk Free
Foundation.

The objective of the agreement is to
eradicate modern slavery and human trafficking across the world by
2020”; it is a revolutionary and unprecedented agreement among
representatives of major faiths. The joint statement made by the
signatories underscores the “searing personal destructiveness of
modern slavery and human trafficking” and calls for “urgent
action by all other Christian Churches and global faiths”.

According to the Joint Statement,
“Modern slavery and human trafficking are crimes against humanity.
The physical, economic and sexual exploitation of men, women and
children condemns 30 million people to dehumanisation and
degradation. Every day we let this tragic situation continue is a
grievous assault on our common humanity and a shameful affront to the
consciences of all peoples. Any indifference to those suffering
exploitation must cease. We call to action all people of faith and
their leaders, all governments and people of goodwill, to join the
movement against modern slavery and human trafficking and support the
Global Freedom Network”.

Vatican City, 16 March 2014 (VIS) –
At midday today the Holy Father appeared at the window of his study
to pray the Angelus with the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square.
On this, the second Sunday of Lent, Pope Francis reflected upon the
Transfiguration of Christ and urged the faithful this week to “listen
to Jesus” and to read a passage from the Gospel every day.

“We, as Jesus' disciples, are called
upon to be people who listen to His voice and take His words
seriously. To listen to Jesus, we need to be near to Him, to follow
Him, as did the crowds in the Gospel who ran after him through the
streets of Palestine. … But we also listen to Jesus in his written
Word, in the Gospel. Let me ask you a question: do you read a passage
from the Gospel every day? Yes, no, yes, no, so-so. But it is
important. It is a good idea to have a small Gospel, a pocket-sized
Gospel that you can carry around with you, and to read a short
passage from it at any time of the day. At any time in the day I take
the Gospel out of my pocket and read a little something, a short
passage. There we find Jesus, Who speaks to us, in the Gospel! Think
about this. It is not difficult, and it is not even necessary to have
all four of them: we can carry just one of the Gospels, a little
copy, with us at all times. Let us always keep the Gospel with us,
because it is the Word of Jesus, so that we can listen to Him at all
times.

The Pope commented that, in order to
share the Word of the Lord, we must learn to “ascend” in prayer
and “descend” with fraternal charity, and he emphasised that this
is a mission that involves the entire Church, all baptised persons.
“In this episode of the Transfiguration, I would like to comment on
two significant elements that can be summarised in two words –
ascent and descent”, he said. “We need to take time out to climb
the mountain in silent space, to find ourselves and to better hear
the voice of the Lord. We do this in prayer. But we cannot remain
there! The encounter with God in prayer inspires us to go back down
the mountain, onto the plain, where we meet many brothers and sisters
who are weighed down by fatigue, injustice, ignorance and poverty,
both material and spiritual. We must bring to these brothers of ours
who are in difficulty the fruits of our experience with God, sharing
the grace we have received. And this is curious. When we hear the
Word of Jesus, when we listen to the Word of Jesus and commit it to
our hearts, that Word grows. And do you know how we make it grow? By
giving it to others! The Word of Christ grows in us when we proclaim
it, when we give it to others. And this is Christian life”.

Finally, the Bishop of Rome asked all
those present to turn to the Mother of God and our Mother, invoking
her guidance in our Lenten journey.

Vatican City, 16 March 2014 (VIS) –
Following today's Angelus prayer, the Holy Father called for prayers
for the passengers and crew of the missing Malaysian airliner, and
for their families and loved ones. Pope Francis also addressed the
members of the Pope John XXIII Community, founded by the Italian
priest Oreste Benzi, and mentioned the Via Crucis organised by this
community for women who are victims of trafficking, to take place
next Friday evening in the streets of the centre of Rome.

Vatican City, 16 March 2014 (VIS) –
“The Christian's first task is to listen to the Word of God, to
listen to Jesus, because He speaks to us, and He saves us with His
Word. And He makes our faith stronger and more robust, with his
Word”. Pope Francis addressed these words to the faithful who
awaited him at 4 p.m. today in the parish of Santa Maria
dell'Orazione in Setteville di Guidonia, to the north of the Italian
capital. The Pope met with various groups within the parish, in
particular the sick and disabled, children and young catechumens
preparing to receive their first Communion, Confirmation and Post
Confirmation, Neocatechumenal Communities and families with children
baptised during recent months. Before beginning the celebration, Pope
Francis confessed several penitents.

The Pope's homily focused on the grace
of “listening to and watching Jesus”. “Do we keep a copy of the
Gospel at home? And each day, do we listen to Jesus in the Gospel, do
we read a short passage from the Gospel? Are we afraid of this, or
are we unaccustomed to it? Listening to the Word of Jesus to nourish
us – this means that the Word of Jesus is the strongest sustenance
for the soul: it nourishes our soul and our faith. I recommend that
every day you set aside a few minutes to read a good passage from the
Gospel and to see what happens there. Hear the voice of Jesus, and
that Word of Jesus will enter into our hearts every day and make us
stronger in our faith”.

“We are invited to listen to Jesus,
and Jesus manifests himself, and in His Transfiguration He invites us
to look upon him. And looking at Him purifies our eyes and prepares
us for eternal life, for the vision of Heaven. Perhaps our eyes have
sickened as they have seen so many things that are not of Jesus, or
that are indeed against Jesus: worldly things, things that are not
good for the light of the soul. And so this light gradually goes out,
and without knowing it we end up in inner darkness, in spiritual
darkness, in the darkness that excludes faith; darkness as we are not
used to looking at or imagining those things proper to Jesus”.

Vatican City, 15 March 2014 (VIS) –
The Holy Father will visit the parish of San Gregorio VII in Rome on
Friday 21 March to meet with the participants in a meeting organised
by the “Libera” Foundation, presided by Don Luigi Ciotti. The
meeting is dedicated to relatives of the victims of the mafia and
will be held on the eve of the 19th “Day of memory and commitment”,
in remembrance of the victims of the mafia, to be held in Latina on
22 March.

- accepted the resignation from the
pastoral care of the diocese of Sincelejo, Colombia, presented by
Bishop Nel Hedye Beltran Santamaria, in accordance with canon 401
para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.

- appointed Rev. Jose Manuel Garita
Herrera as bishop of Ciudad Quesada (area 9,838, population 297615,
Catholics 223,257, priests 42, religious 35), Costa Rica. The
bishop-elect was born in Heredia, Costa Rica in 1965 and was ordained
a priest in 1988. He holds a licentiate in canon law from the
Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, and has served in a number of
pastoral, administrative and academic roles in the archdiocese of San
Jose de Costa Rica, including vicar of the parish of “Nuestra
Senora del Carmen”; auditor, defender of the bond and judicial
vicar of the ecclesiastical tribunal; professor of sacred scriptures
at the Autonomous University of Central America; archdiocesan
vice-chancellor and chancellor, archdiocesan bursar and head of
personnel of the Curia, professor of canon law at the Catholic
University, the Theological Institute of Central America and in the
national major seminary, rector of the “Santuario Nacional Templo
Votivo al Sagrado Corazon de Jesus”, vicar forane, formator and
spiritual director. He is currently rector of the national major
seminary “Nuestra Senora de los Angeles”.

- appointed Fr. Robert Byrne as bishop
of Birmingham (area 9,936, population 5,455,000, Catholics 286,700,
priests 354, permanent deacons 81, religious 700), England. The
bishop-elect was born in Urmston, England in 1956 and was ordained a
priest in 1985. He completed his studies as King's College,
University of London, and the Birmingham Oratory. He founded a new
Oratory in the parish of St. Aloysius, Oxford in 1993. He has served
as provost of the Oratory, chaplain of the prisons of Oxford and
Bullingdon, and governor of the Oratory School. He is currently
president of the Permanent Deputation of the International
Confederation of the Oratory and secretary of the Department for
Dialogue and Unity of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and
Wales.

- appointed Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran,
president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, as
his special envoy to the consecration of the recently restored shrine
to St. Augustine d'Ippona at Annaba, Algeria, to take place on 2 May
2014, the centenary of its elevation to a Basilica.